Visual Learning in Multiple-Object Tracking

Tracking moving objects in space is important for the maintenance of spatiotemporal continuity in everyday visual tasks. In the laboratory, this ability is tested using the Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) task, where participants track a subset of moving objects with attention over an extended period of time. The ability to track multiple objects with attention is severely limited. Recent research has shown that this ability may improve with extensive practice (e.g., from action videogame playing). However, whether tracking also improves in a short training session with repeated trajectories has rarely been investigated. In this study we examine the role of visual learning in multiple-object tracking and characterize how varieties of attention interact with visual learning.Participants first conducted attentive tracking on trials with repeated motion trajectories for a short session. In a transfer phase we used the same motion trajectories but changed the role of tracking targets and nontargets. We found that compared with novel trials, tracking was enhanced only when the target subset was the same as that used during training. Learning did not transfer when the previously trained targets and nontargets switched roles or mixed up. However, learning was not specific to the trained temporal order as it transferred to trials where the motion was played backwards.These findings suggest that a demanding task of tracking multiple objects can benefit from learning of repeated motion trajectories. Such learning potentially facilitates tracking in natural vision, although learning is largely confined to the trajectories of attended objects. Furthermore, we showed that learning in attentive tracking relies on relational coding of all target trajectories. Surprisingly, learning was not specific to the trained temporal context, probably because observers have learned motion paths of each trajectory independently of the exact temporal order

Ensuring Fair and Reliable Measures of Effective Teaching: Culminating Findings from the MET Project's Three-Year Study

States and districts have launched unprecedented efforts in recent years to build new feedback and evaluation systems that support teacher growth and development. The goal is to improve practice so that teachers can better help their students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and beyond. These systems depend on trustworthy information about teaching effectiveness -- information that recognizes th complexity of teaching and is trusted by both teachers and administrators. To that end, the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project set out three years ago to investigate how a set of measures could identify effective teaching fairly and reliably. With the help of 3,000 teacher volunteers who opened up their classrooms to us -- along with scores of academic and organizational partners -- we have studied, among other measures:Classroom observation instruments, including both subject-specific and cross-subject tools, that define discrete teaching competencies and describe different levels of performance for each;Student perception surveys that assess key characteristics of the classroom environment, including supportiveness, challenge, and order; andStudent achievement gains on state tests and on more cognitively challenging assessments. We have reported findings as we learned them in order to provide states and districts with evidence-based guidance to inform their ongoing work. In our initial report in 2010 (Learning about Teaching), we found that a well-designed student perception survey can provide reliable feedback on aspects of teaching practice that are predictive of student learning.In 2012 (Gathering Feedback for Teaching), we presented similar results for classroom observations. We also found that an accurate observation rating requires two or more lessons, each scored by a different certified observer. With each analysis we have better understood the particular contribution that each measure makes to a complete picture of effective teaching and how those measures should be implemented to provide teachers with accurate and meaningful feedback.This final brief from the MET project's three-year study highlights new analyses that extend and deepen the insights from our previous work. These studies address three fundamental questions that face practitioners and policymakers engaged in creating teacher support and evaluation systems

A methodological framework for capturing relative eyetracking coordinate data to determine gaze patterns and fixations from two or more observers

While physical activity during cancer treatment is found beneficial for breast cancer patients, evidence indicates ambiguous findings concerning effects of scheduled exercise programs on treatment-related symptoms. This study investigated effects of a scheduled home-based exercise intervention in breast cancer patients during adjuvant chemotherapy, on cancer-related fatigue, physical fitness, and activity level. Sixty-seven women were randomized to an exercise intervention group (n=33, performed strength training 3x/week and 30 minutes brisk walking/day) and a control group (n=34, performed their regular physical activity level). Data collection was performed at baseline, at completion of chemotherapy (Post1), and 6-month postchemotherapy (Post2). Exercise levels were slightly higher in the scheduled exercise group than in the control group. In both groups, cancer-related fatigue increased at Post1 but returned to baseline at Post2. Physical fitness and activity levels decreased at Post1 but were significantly improved at Post2. Significant differences between intervention and control groups were not found. The findings suggest that generally recommended physical activity levels are enough to relief cancer-related fatigue and restore physical capacity in breast cancer patients during adjuvant chemotherapy, although one cannot rule out that results reflect diminishing treatment side effects over time

Development of Auditory Selective Attention: Why Children Struggle to Hear in Noisy Environments

Children’s hearing deteriorates markedly in the presence of unpredictable noise. To explore why, 187 school-age children (4–11 years) and 15 adults performed a tone-in-noise detection task, in which the masking noise varied randomly between every presentation. Selective attention was evaluated by measuring the degree to which listeners were influenced by (i.e., gave weight to) each spectral region of the stimulus. Psychometric fits were also used to estimate levels of internal noise and bias. Levels of masking were found to decrease with age, becoming adult-like by 9–11 years. This change was explained by improvements in selective attention alone, with older listeners better able to ignore noise similar in frequency to the target. Consistent with this, age-related differences in masking were abolished when the noise was made more distant in frequency to the target. This work offers novel evidence that improvements in selective attention are critical for the normal development of auditory judgments